Not what I was expecting. Unlike a typical West Coast IPA, this had plenty of malt to balance the hops. Still plenty of hops, however, more of the bittering variety than the pine resin/grapefruit type.

Two Hearted, to me, is the archetype IPA, and I bought this because the store was out. Not a bad substitute.

I’ve liked everything I’ve had from Deschutes, but I’m not sure if I’ve tried this one, due to my trying to put some space between my IPA consumptions.

Not what I was expecting. Unlike a typical West Coast IPA, this had plenty of malt to balance the hops. Still plenty of hops, however, more of the bittering variety than the pine resin/grapefruit type.

Two Hearted, to me, is the archetype IPA, and I bought this because the store was out. Not a bad substitute.

I’ve liked everything I’ve had from Deschutes, but I’m not sure if I’ve tried this one, due to my trying to put some space between my IPA consumptions.

Lagunitas Little Sumpin Sumpin ale. Two 12 oz. drafts consumed at Hophaus. They call it a wheat ale, I guess, but the wheat was very mild, I really didn’t notice it. Much closer to an IPA in taste, with a little citrus in there too. I liked it just fine.

This has become one of my go-to beers, although it took some time to grow on me. 11% ABV means one will do you for the evening, and I don’t recommend making plans to drive around the neighborhood afterward. Pours a lovely golden color with a big fluffy head that almost immediately dissipates. Taste is quite sweet, reminiscent of green apples or maybe a tart peach, and you can definitely taste the booze. Definitely benefits from sitting in the mug/goblet/vessel and warming up for a while. I wouldn’t drink it every night but it’s a nice change of pace if you’re in the mood for something on the fruity side. Price tag is pretty steep ($16 for a 4 pack) but again, one of these goes a long way.

I love this beer- a lot. I do think it’s a tiny bit overrated, just because there is so much hype surrounding it in the craft brew community, and I feel like I’ve had a lot of damn tasty IPAs- I don’t feel that it laps the field or anything. Still, you can buy a sixpack of this sucker and rest assured that no matter when you decide to pour it, it’s going to be just about perfect going down. Delicious, versatile, a world class brew.

I love this beer- a lot. I do think it’s a tiny bit overrated, just because there is so much hype surrounding it in the craft brew community, and I feel like I’ve had a lot of damn tasty IPAs- I don’t feel that it laps the field or anything. Still, you can buy a sixpack of this sucker and rest assured that no matter when you decide to pour it, it’s going to be just about perfect going down. Delicious, versatile, a world class brew.

8/10

I don’t really get that it’s overrated or hyped in the beer community. Well -regarded yes, because it set the standard for the hoppy American IPA. Since it’s debut there have been tons of new IPA’s introduced that take the blueprint of Two Hearted to it’s extremes, so that currently Two Hearted occupies the middle in terms of hoppiness and balance.

I’m jealous of the sheer number of beers you had in February, never mind the quality. I finally cleaned out some of the beers still left over from the Super Bowl in the fridge on St Pat’s. Since I’ve been on a diet (supporting my gf) the last few weeks, I couldn’t drink much, but the holiday necessitated a change. Enough variety was there not to repeat anything, but none of it was rare. I guess I could have cracked open that Hennepin I’ve been aging, but that wasn’t in the way of anything and wasn’t chilled.

Tecate: OK, I agree there’s not much flavor, but what it has isn’t truly objectionable. I had just finished mowing the lawn and cans are lighter

Anchor Steam: I consider this the most versatile beer around, I think it pretty much goes with any food.

Sierra Nevada Pale Ale: I realized 8 or 10 years ago I was getting spoiled by looking for something new to have on tap, when this was available at a lot of places. Now that really isn’t the case anymore and Sam Adams has seemingly usurped that extra tap with it’s seasonal. What a fool I was, you have to keep drinking a beer for it to stay around. I guess so much of that is out of the drinker’s control and up to distribution though. As much as you tout the Bell’s, this is the gateway beer I think for IPA. They do a reasonably good job with all the styles they transport.

Tupper’s Hop Pocket Ale: Pretty hoppy, but well-balanced, flavorful, and has that lovely coppery appearance that seems to always promise something good. Not what it was when in was brewed closer to DC years ago, and a lot more expensive, but still a fine product

Dogfish 60 minute ale: Probably the best beer at Nationals Park, unless the Clipper City Small Craft stuff is on tap. You guys know this one, probably it’s overrated, but also has the benefit of being brewed nearby, and hoppy and strong enough to ensure a good start before I end up drinking the lesser varieties closer to my seats.

Dale’s Pale Ale: My brother turned me on to this stuff, it used to be his portable brew choice, since it might be the first decent US beer available in 12 oz cans. I know many decent breweries are expanding into canning now.

Guinness from the can: St Pat’s after all, too cold coming out of the fridge, but you have to do that because of the widget, after 10 minutes it starts to taste familiar at least. I still prefer it to other Irish imported stouts like Mooney’s and Murphy’s, since those are sweeter. Guinness is still a great session beer for scaring people at the bar who don’t realize it’s not very strong. I’m not the drinker I used to be, but I suspect I still could do an imperial pint every 40 minutes and be fine the whole night.

Leffe: suffers in comparison to Duvel and the like, alcohol, wheat notes, and sweetness are fairly balanced, and it has that persistent Belgian lace to keep the mouthfeel nice. Pretty easy to find in supermarkets now for 10 bucks or so, so there’s that. The Leffe Bruin as a tap beer is one of the few brown ales that isn’t too sweet for my tastes. This one put me to sleep, probably with the help of my disintegrating chances at NCAA pool money.

Ovila Quad (2 consumed)
I discussed it in the first entry. I’ve also modified my counting, it was one large format bottle, I’m now counting those as two, and went back and re-counted the original as two.

****1/2
Newcastle (20 consumed)

[REDACTED] Baltic Porter (4 consumed)
This was a home-brew of a friend’s. It was outrageously good, and I drank and drank it.

Lagunitas Cappocino Stout (2 consumed)
I didn’t keep notes on this one, but I don’t recall the coffee flavoring being over the top (though with some beers over the top on that is good). So I recall a nice balance. The Lagunitas IPA is everywhere, but this just shows to go you how breweries putting their IPA foot forward usually aren’t putting their best foot forward. I am so sick and tired of IPAs.

Chimay Red (1 consumed)
Middle-of-the-road Chimay.

Duvel (1 consumed)
On the fruitier side, but weighty enough that it doesn’t taste like some half-assed cider. Not as ideal as the Delirium Tremens, with which it shares some similarities in my mind, but it’s a more than worthy Belgian. I’ve had it before.

Great Divide Yeti Imperial Stout (1 consumed)
A small hint of chocolate on a first taste, but not noticeable the deeper you dive in. Therefore probably not as scary to some as some of the other dark beers. I liked it quite a bit, evidently (I’m just going off of notes here).

Guinness (1 consumed)

Ladyface 2nd Anniversary Quad (1 consumed)
This was an absolutely fantastic quad. It comes from a local brewery just on the LA side of Ventura County. My notes are “Rustic, flavorful”, and I’m not really sure what that means, but I’ve been to this brewery since then and tried a bunch of their wares, which I’ll report on in next month’s edition.

****
Chimay White (5 consumed)
I still think this is the least of the Chimays (the Blue is the best), but it’s growing on me. I think it gets served too cold. The flavors really loosen up when it sits out a bit; I think they work better when they aren’t as sharp and biting as they come across when the beer is at its coldest.

Ommegong Abbey Ale (4 consumed)
I like it, and Ommegong is routinely solid, but I’m not sure it really gets over the hump. The legit Belgians are better, and I’m not sure anyone lights a candle to Unibroue, really.

Old Speckled Hen (3 consumed)
I do like the mix of creaminess and lightness. It’s not as good as a Boddington’s, but it’s in that realm.

Guinness Foreign Extra (1 consumed)
Have you had this weirdness? It’s like Guinness, but with a rice or soy taste in it. It’s really ####### bizarre. Not unpleasant, but just ... weird.

Karl Strauss IPA (1 consumed)
See, I do like IPAs, when they’re good, and many are. I’m just sick of how everywhere they are. Anyway, this is a solid one. Nowhere near as good as Racer 5, though, which may be the best in category.

Smog City Coffee Porter (1 consumed)
NOT KIDDING ABOUT THE COFFEE. Very, very serious coffee taste. Not messing around.

***
Foster’s (3 consumed)
Vegas.

Full Sail ESB (3 consumed)
On special at a bar, but not actually all that special. As I recall, Full Sail doesn’t do much for me.

Corona (2 consumed)
I have no idea what led to this.

Dos Equis Lager (2 consumed)

Blue Moon (1 consumed)

Copper Hook Ale (1 consumed)
No idea what this is.

Karl Strauss Amber Ale (1 consumed)
I set *** as replacement level. I’ll drink it, if it gets below this standard, I will not have beer.

Peroni (1 consumed)

Strand Pale Ale (1 consumed)

The Bruery Humulus Hoppy Lager (1 consumed)
“Hoppy lager”? I guess you’d just as well make a ####### IPA, then.

**1/2
Kokanee (1 consumed)
A boring lager that I barely even got through while in Vegas.

Signature

I am completely right, but you are too stupid to understand what I’m saying.

*****
Unibroue Grande Reserve 17 (2 consumed)
This was an absolutely marvelous beer, as you can tell by my grade. Dark but not overwhelming, nicely balanced, strong but easy. It’s a limited edition so I would recommend seeking this out. I think there’s a good chance Unibroue is the best brewery in the world.

****1/2
Newcastle (12 consumed)

Unibroue Trois Pistoles (4 consumed)
Again, dark but easy, with a bit of spices. A bit thinner than the Grande Reserve, as I recall, but it’s fine drinking all around.

Ladyface Russian Lullaby Russian Imperial Stout (2 consumed)
You’re going to hear a lot about this brewery in this write-up, as it’s down the street from my mother’s and we went there several times while I was at her place for Easter. This was the cream of their crop. Very rich and tasty, and you can feel how strong it is, but in a good, hearty way, not an overwhelming way. Is Russian Imperial the King of Stouts? It might be. I need to go out and seek it out specifically more often.

Allagash Tripel Reserve (1 consumed)
I’m not historically a big Allagash fan, as their most-distributed beer (at least out here) is the White, and I’m not a fan of whites. But as a fan of tripels I thought I’d check out this limited edition, and I’m very, very glad I did. It is similar to a Delirium Tremens in many ways, though less fruity, but with the same crispness and coloration. I see they also have a Dark Ale out now, I’ll have to check it out, as this brew makes it clear to me that Allagash knows very well what it’s doing, it’s just that before I’ve experienced them doing well things I don’t really like.

****
DeSchutes Black Butte Porter (2 consumed)

Firestone DBA (2 consumed)

Cismontane Classified Doppelsticke Double Alt (1 consumed)
The craft place up the street from me had a few alts a few weeks ago, so I tried a few. I liked this one the most. Unfortunately, I didn’t keep any notes as to why.

Ladyface Picture City Porter (1 consumed)
Another coffee-leaning porter, and they even sprinkle coffee grounds on it to accentuate the flavor. I think it works very well, and the grounds bring up the scene without making the beer itself overly coffee-esque in its flavoring.

Ladyface Trebuchet (1 consumed)
A “farmhouse ale”, or saison, I guess. I usually dislike saisons—way too fruity without any balance—but this had a tart, sour, almost lemon taste that I found beguiling. After having had one, I thought I was done with it, but its combination of uniqueness and success actually makes it the most memorable to me out of the Ladyface offerings I had. I didn’t love most of their lighter fare, actually (I had a quick sip of both their pale ale and IPA, which were uninspiring), but that might be more about my tastes than their skills, given how good they are with the dark beers (their Quad, which I had elsewhere in March, was spectacular) and specialty brews such as this.

Pranqster Belgian Golden Ale (1 consumed)

Velvet Merlin Oatmeal Stout (1 consumed)
I’m not sure I’ve had an oatmeal stout before. It was worthy. Rather thin in the body, but with good flavor. Did not feel strong.

***1/2
Heineken (5 consumed)

DeSchutes Mirror Pond Pale Ale (3 consumed)
A solid but unexceptional pale. A little bit of a letdown from DeSchutes, but not as much as the IPA, which will be below.

Moretti La Rossa (3 consumed)

Abita Turbodog (2 consumed)
A hint of chocolate livens up what is otherwise a solid but unremarkable dark beer. Very drinkable, if not cravable.

BJ’s Nutty Brewnette (1 consumed)
BJ’s brown. I remember it being better. They used to brew on-site but don’t anymore, I’m not sure if that’s a factor, or if having had more beers since I was last there made this one stand out less.

Ladyface Blind Ambition Abbey Ale (1 consumed)
“Smooth, a bit of spice.” Sounds pretty good, too, though I don’t recall it being as easy-drinking as some other abbeys.

Ladyface Blonde (1 consumed)
I like blondes for the easy drinking, and this fit the bill. It wasn’t as flavorful as some other blondes I’ve had in my day, but it satisfies the minimum requirements of the style.

Ladyface Trois Filles Tripel (1 consumed)
I really need to learn to start taking more detailed notes. Though I tend to love tripels, I didn’t love this one. I feel like it was lacking in flavor relative to some others. Again, this brewery really excels the darker the beer gets, imo.

Monkish Crux Belgian Ale (1 consumed)
This one grew on me. When I first sipped it, I wasn’t really into it. Again, lacking in flavor, or at least relative to what I was expecting. The brewery describes it as being crisp and spicy, but I think it was a bit heavier than crisp and the spices didn’t make an impact on me.

Stella Artois (1 consumed)

***
DeSchutes Inversion IPA (4 consumed)
This had a slightly weird creaminess to it, almost. The bonus was that it wasn’t overly hoppy, but it was a strange combination of tastes that I don’t think coalesced into a top-notch IPA. Given how good some of DeSchutes’ other brews are, that was a bit surprising, but from here on out if I want any of their lighter fare, I’d definitely choose the pale over the IPA.

Dos Equis Lager (3 consumed)

Bohemia Clasica (1 consumed)
This isn’t very clasica. My grade may be generous.

Hangar 24 Amarillo Pale Ale (1 consumed)
I don’t know why you’d fruit the pale ale, but adding citrus to this was a nice touch. I wouldn’t go out of my way for it but it’s functional.

Moretti (1 consumed)

**1/2
Full Sail Phil’s Existential Alt (2 consumed)
A bar near me often was Full Sail on special, and I’m ready to give up on them. It’s drinkable in a pinch, but…

Signature

I am completely right, but you are too stupid to understand what I’m saying.

I am working my way through a four-pack of this now. SPOILER ALERT, I think it’s pretty good. I’ve actually been drinking it straight from the can, which is probably wrong, but my dishwasher and kitchen sink are on the fritz and I’ve been slow to handwash appropriate glasses. I like Oskar Blues, their scotch ale was of interest and Dale’s Pale Ale is pretty good. I feel like I had the Pils, too, and it accredited itself quite nicely for a pilsner.

Signature

I am completely right, but you are too stupid to understand what I’m saying.

Spiked Wake n Bake (Kickbacks)
Imperial Stout
Terrapin
Athens, GA
USA
8.1—
Draft
Aged at the brewery, exclusive to Kickbacks only. The owner of the bar drove the bourbon barrels from Kentucky to the brewery in Athens so that they would age it to his specifications. Aged on used bourbon barrels over vanilla, tupelo honey, and cocoa. Strong alcohol on the nose and finish.
9/10